Joyia Clark heaved a full court shot as the buzzer sounded in the O’Bannon Lady Waves 67-48 victory over the Greenville High Honeybees Saturday in a cross town rivalry that has been historically lopsided in favor of the Honeybees. Letting the ball fly from the other end of the court was cathartic and symbolic of where the O’Bannon program is headed.
“I can’t remember the last time we beat Greenville High,” said Lady Waves head coach Hardy Patterson. “It’s safe to say it has been decades.”
Clark, who led her team with 16 points, has played varsity basketball since her middle school years. She put the victory in perspective.
“We always want to beat Greenville High when we play them,” Clark said. “This is the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve won. It’s a big accomplishment but we really haven’t done anything yet.”
The Lady Waves used a combination of balanced scoring and targeted defense to slow the Honeybees from the onset. Maleah Morris added 15 and D’Aziah Landrum 10 respectively for O’Bannon. Ti’Alone Banks sparked the Honeybees with 19.
“We found out early that she was their hot shooter and we just locked down defense on her,” Patterson explained.
Sierra Liggins added 10 points for the Honeybees.
“You’ve got to give credit where credit is due,” said Honeybees head coach Dekedreon Lampkin. “This was and old fashion butt whooping and they played harder than us. Before we knew it, we were down 15-0 when we decided to play. And you can’t have that mindset against a good team.
